Abstract:

We use the multiregional core-periphery model of the new economic geography to
analyze and compare the agglomeration and dispersion forces shaping the location of
economic activity for a continuum of network topologies characterized by their degree
of centrality, and comprised between two extremes represented by the homogenous
(ring) and the heterogeneous (star) configurations. Resorting to graph theory, we
systematically extend the analytical tools and graphical representations of the
coreperiphery model for alternative spatial configurations, and study the stability of
the alternative equilibria in terms of the sustain and break points. We study new
phenomena such as the absence of any stable distribution of economic activity for some
range of transport costs, and the infeasibility of the dispersed equilibrium in the
heterogeneous space, resulting in the introduction of the concept pseudo flat-earth as a
long run-equilibrium corresponding to an uneven distribution of economic activity
between regions.